Apparatus for untwisting textile strands



Aug. 12, 1958 H. L. WOLFE 2,846,838

APPARATUS FOR UNTWISTING TEXTILE STRANDS Filed Feb. 2, 1955 f! M MILniWW/IAW/II/AIIIIEIIIWI/ 2044a 5 Jwope ATTORNEYS United States Patent"Ofiice 2,846,838 Patented Aug. 1 2, 1958 APPARATUS FOR'UNTWISTINGTEXTILE STRANDS Homer L. Wolfe, Parkersburg, W. Va., assignor to L-O-FGlass Fibers Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio ApplicationFebruary 2, 1955, Serial No. 485,790

4 Claims. (Cl. 57-1) I cylindrical spool somewhat in the manner of aspool of household sewing thread. The spoolof continuous strand istransferred to a rewind and twisting machine wherein the strand istwisted as it is transferred to another spool.

The twisted strand is then plied with other strands to form a yarnhaving either a left or right hand twist.

In either the twisting or plying operation, the strands occasionallybreak due to excessive tension placed thereon by a malfunction of themachine or by a malfunction of the yarn during its passage through theguides and tensioner of the machine. Where a break occurs, it isnecessary to splice the broken ends and then remove the break. Also,when a package is depleted, it is necessary to splice in the end of anew package in order to continue the operation.

When a break occurs or when it is necessary to splice in a new package,the ends to be joined must be untwisted so that the filaments ofeach'end may be spliced to one another and the strand again formed as acontinuous length. In many instances, the untwisting of the broken endshas been accomplished "by hand and has been both difficult and timeconsuming.

Therefore, an important object of the invention is to provide improvedapparatus for untwisting previously twisted textile strands.

Another object of the invention is to provide in such apparatus meansfor untwisting a strand in a rapid manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for untwistingtextile strands that is portable and easily handled.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparentduring the course of the following description when taken in connectionwith the ac companying drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the same:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the improved apparatus of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the rear of the apparatus shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of the strand engaging means of the apparatus; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along the line 5-5 ofFig. 2.

With reference now to the drawings, and particularly Figs. 1 to 3, thereis shown the improved yarn untwisting machine built in accordance withthe invention. The machine is compact in construction and, brieflystated, comprises a gear box 11 containing a gear train 12, a handactuated wheel 13 for supplying rotative power to the gear train, and ahead assembly 14 which isdriven by the gear train and which, as laterdescribed, grips a twisted strand 15 and untwists the same in a rapidand efiicient manner.

The gear box 11 comprises a circular back Wall 16 having an integrallyformed rim portion 17 extending about the periphery thereof to form acavity 18 within which the gear train 12 is housed. The cavity is closedby means of a circular cover plate 19 which is tightly secured to therim portion 17 by a plurality of countersunk cap screws 20 and has aplugged opening 21 formed therein for introducing a lubricant to thegear train. A bracket 22 is secured to the back wall along the loweredge thereof to prevent rolling movement of the machine when supportedon a given surface.

To aiford a surface better adapted to 'be grasped, the

'hand wheel 13 is knurled about its outer periphery, and

is provided with a drilled axial hub 23 having a pair of tapped holes 24formed therein which receive set screws operative .to secure said hubtoa driving shaft 25. The shaft 25 extends into the gear box 11 and issupported by a pair of bearings'26 one of which is located in the backwall 16 and the other in the cover plate 19.

The gear train 12, which is entirely contained within the gear box 11,comprises three spur gears of relatively large diameter 27, 28 and 29,each of which has seventytwo teeth formed therein, and three other spurgears 30, 31 and 32 of relatively smaller diameter, the gears 30 and 31having sixteen teeth each, and the gear 32 having six teeth. The gear27, which acts as a pinion, is carried by the driving shaft 25 and islocated within the cavity 18 adjacent to but spaced from the back wall 16. This gear engages and drives the gear 30 which is located in the samevertical plane and carried by a shaft 33 suitably supported at itsopposite ends bybearings 34 located in the back wall and cover plate.Supported upon the shaft 33 and spaced inwardly from the gear 30, is thegear 28, which, due to having the same support shaft, rotates at thesame number of R. P. M.s as the gear 30. The gear 28 engages and drivesthe sixteen-toothed gear 31 which is carried by a shaft .35 similar tothe shaft 33 and also having its opposite ends supported by bearings 36located in the back wall and cover plate of the gear box. The shaft 35also carries the seventy-two-toothed gear 29 which is spaced laterallyfrom the gear 31 and located in the same vertical plane as the gear 32which is driven thereby.

The gear 32 which, as previously mentioned, has six teeth is carried atthe iner end of a driven shaft 37 which is supported by a bearing 38located in the cover plate. The opposite end of the shaft 37 extendsthrough the bearing and supports the head assembly 14 which is adaptedto engage and rotate the twisted strand 15 at a high rate of speed aboutthe axis of the shaft 37.

As best seen in Fig. 5, the head assembly 14 comprises a support member39, a flange 40 which engages the strand 15, an annular ring 41 forclamping the flange against the support member, and a circular nut 42which exerts a thrust against the ring 41.

The support member 39 has an axial hole 43 extending therethrough forreceiving the shaft 37 and comprises a body portion 44 and an integralhead portion 45. The body portion is substantially cylindrical in shapeintermediate its ends to receive a set screw 50 for locking the supportmember to the shaft 37.

As seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the flange 40 is circular in shape and isprovide-d with an axial hole 51 therethrough for receiving the bodyportion 44 of the support member 39. As previously mentioned, the flangegrips the strand to be untwisted. For this purpose, a plurality ofradial slots 52 of lesser width than the strand 15 are provided atspaced intervals about the periphery of the flange and extend inwardly alimited distance therefrom. Since the side walls of the slots must exerta clamping action on the strand when gripped therebetween, the flangepreferably is formed of a resilient non-abrasive material such as feltwhich not only will provide the gripping action but also will not injurethe strand.

When the flange 40 is assembled with the support member 39, the one sidewall of the flange engages the vertical wall 46. The opposite side wallof the flange is engaged by the annular ring 41, and the circular nut 42is then threaded over the end of the body portion and tightly clamps theflange between said ring and the Wall 46 to position said flange forrotational movement within a plane normal to the axis of rotation of theshaft 37.

In using the improved apparatus herein disclosed, the end of the strand15 is placed in one of the radial slots 52 of the flange 40 which,because of its resilient composition, exerts a clamping force upon thestrand. The machine operator then grasps the strand approximately twelveinches from its point of engagement with the flange and rotates the handwheel 13 a sufiicient distance to pro vide the required number ofrevolutions of the head to fully open the gripped strand between itspoint of engagement with the flange and the point at which it is graspedby the operator. Since the flange 40 is circular in shape and concentricwith the shaft 37, the path of rotation of the strand describes a coneof revolution and, therefore, the strand is not subjected to any unevenmovement. Ordinarily, only a fractional revolution of the hand wheelwill be required since the gear train will provide a multiplicationfactor of approximately 243:1. The same procedure is then followed withthe other end of the broken strand (not shown). After the ends have beenuntwisted, the filaments in each are out at staggered intervals. Thefilaments of the two ends are then secured to one another by means of asuitable adhesive or by tying and, since the respective filaments arecut in diflering lengths, the resultant splice is relatively long andnot readily noticeable.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same, andvarious changes may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for untwisting a previously twisted textile strand ofgiven diameter by rotating the same in a direction opposite to thedirection of twist, a gear train, a driving shaft for actuating saidgear train, a hand wheel secured to said driving shaft for rotating thesame, a driven shaft rotated by said gear train, and a head assemblysecured to said driven shaft and mounted for rotation therewith, saidhead assembly including a flange positioned for rotation in a planenormal to the axis of rotation of said shaft and having formed therein aslot of less diameter than said strand within which the strand isretained while being untwisted.

2. In apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the flange is of circularshape and the slot extends inwardly from the periphery thereof a limiteddistance.

3. In apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the flange comprises aresilient non-abrasive material.

4. In an apparatus for untwisting a previously twisted textile strand ofgiven diameter by rotating the strand in a direction opposite to thedirection of twist, a shaft, means for rotating said shaft, a headassembly secured to an end of the shaft, said head assembly including asupport member secured to the shaft, said support member comprising acylindrical body portion having its one end threaded inwardly a limiteddistance, a peripheral ring spaced inwardly from said threaded portion,a diametrically slotted disk adapted to fit upon said cylindrical bodyportion and abut said peripheral ring, and means adapted to engage saidthreaded portion and clamp said disk against said ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.11,296 Macintosh Dec. 27, 1892 1,543,924 Jagger et al. June 30, 19251,675,400 Young July 3, 1928 2,245,359 Perry June 10, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS 43,015 Sweden Aug. 29, 1917 494,344 Canada July 14, 1953 837,040France Oct. 25, 1938

